Tucson trying to lure Milwaukee Brewers for spring training
Aug 16, 2017, 12:13 PM
Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun is congratulated after scoring during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Wednesday, March 22, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
PHOENIX — The Milwaukee Brewers may have found a new spring training home, but it’s going to take a little longer to drive there.
According to KVOA-TV, the city of Tucson has expressed interest in giving the team a spot to play ball during March and April.
The station said Pima County officials have invited the Brewers to tour the Kino Sports Complex near Ajo Way and Interstate 10.
“I would be most interested in showing you the Kino Sports Complex when you are available, as well as introduce you to our county officials and tourism staff,” Pima County Stadium District Director Reene Ochoa wrote in a 17-page packet sent to the team.
The complex is the former spring training home of both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox. It was then called Tucson Electric Park.
The Sox left in 2008 and the D-backs followed suit two years later.
The Brewers were exploring a potential move to Gilbert if the town built a new stadium, but that conversation has seemingly come to an end.
Mayor Jenn Daniels said the deal — which would put taxpayers reportedly on the hook for $70 million of a $90 million stadium — was just too expensive.
“We are a financially conservative council who takes our fiduciary responsibility to the community very seriously,” she said in a statement. “With this in mind, I cannot support the use of public funds to build this stadium.”
Though the team has said it believes “there may be a great deal of community support for the Brewers to relocate in the town of Gilbert,” it said it was working to stay at Maryvale Baseball Park near 51st Avenue and Indian School Road in Phoenix for the long haul.
